1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to the field of flood recovery of wireless telecommunication handsets and, more particularly, to systems and methods for rescue or return to proper and complete working condition of cellphones and other handheld wireless telecommunication devices (hereafter referred to as “handsets”), after the handsets have been exposed to excessive water or other electrically-conductive liquids.
2. Description of Related Art
It is estimated that annually about twenty-five percent of all cellphone handsets in the United States are exposed to water in such amounts as to disrupt proper electronic functioning of the handsets—usually resulting in a complete loss of function of the handsets. Such overexposures of cellphone handsets to water or aqueous liquids can occur in rivers, lakes, seas, ponds, pools, toilets, sinks, buckets, aquariums, and open drink containers. The handsets may fall or be dropped into such bodies of water or be carried in by hand or in pockets, carry cases, or other carry compartments. In addition, such overexposures can occur during use of devices such as water hoses and car wash sprayers. The resulting damage to the cellphone handsets can be devastating because, in addition to complete loss of function of an expensive handset, valuable and often irreplaceable data is sometimes lost, causing frustration and loss of time while waiting and making arrangements for a replacement cellphone handset.
About three hundred million cellphone handsets are in use in the United States, and the annual hardware replacement costs to users resulting from water damage is several billion dollars without even considering service and reconnect fees or incidental costs of lost work time, lost data, and lost business opportunities.
For purposes of these descriptions, except to the extent clarified otherwise, any and all causes of such overexposures are generally referred to as “immersions,” handsets that have been subject to such immersions are generally referred to as “inundated handsets,” and processes for saving, salvaging, drying, restoring or remediating inundated handsets and/or data stored thereon from potential permanent loss or damage are generally referred to as “rescue” of such handsets.
Since the use of cellphone handsets became widely popular, many people have tried to find or develop safe, efficient, reliable, affordable, and fast ways of rescuing inundated handsets and associated data, but the tremendous need remains largely unsatisfied.
It is fairly well-known that inundated handset batteries should be removed as soon as possible after inundation in order to avoid further damage, and various ways have been suggested to ensure the handset electronic components are completely dry before installing new batteries, but known techniques require lengthy periods of time—usually several days to be safe. Popular rescue techniques involve towel drying, tilting and shaking out as much water as possible before placing the inundated handset in a bag or envelope together with rice or some other form of desiccant to absorb moisture for a day or two. Then the handset can be toweled, tilted, and shaken again to ensure no more water comes out before attempting to turn it on again. Others suggest also blowing or vacuuming air through the inundated handset to accelerate the drying process, such as by putting it over an air conditioning vent or by using a vacuum cleaner. However, generally suggestions to accelerate drying with some form of heat have been routinely discouraged in order to avoid causing worse damage from overheating.
Most people with inundated handsets are forced to scrap the inundated handset and start over with a new one. Victims of inundated handsets have desired a feasible alternative for many years, but known techniques to speed up the drying process are simply so risky and speculative that most victims barely even try to rescue an inundated handset. Moreover, those that do try are still advised to wait at least twenty four hours (if not several days) before risking powering up of an inundated handset. Victims might try leaving it with a service desk at their local wireless carrier store, but the prospects are too speculative to be practical, not to mention that service desks often just try the same options that the victim had, albeit at a level allowing the handset to be more disassembled in order to further aid the drying process. The result, irrespective, means a victim still has to wait for an extended period of time, while all the while there is still only a small chance for a successful rescue.